Since 1971, the RRCA has honored dedicated individuals for their outstanding service to the RRCA and the sport of distance running through the National Running Awards Ceremony. We are delighted to announce the 2014 RRCA Distance Running Hall of Fame Inductees and the 2013 National Running Award recipients.
These outstanding contributors to our sport will be honored at the upcoming RRCA National Running Awards Banquet and Ceremony on May 3, 2014 in Spokane, WA. We encourage all RRCA members to join us for this event to celebrate these award-winning contributors to the running community.
RRCA DISTANCE RUNNING HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES:
ANNE AUDAIN
Audain was born November 1, 1955 in Auckland, New Zealand with severe bone deformities of both feet. She did not walk correctly until she had reconstructive surgery at age 13. Three years later, at age 16, she qualified for the 1972 Munich Olympic Games in the 1500 meters. A year later, at age 17, she finished 9th at the 1973 World Cross Country Championships. She also competed in the 1500 meters at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games in Christchurch, New Zealand, finishing 6th and top New Zealander in the final with a time of 4:21.1. At the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympics, Audain competed in the women’s 800 and 1500 meters. Although she failed to get past the heats, she broke the New Zealand national record for the 1500 meters in her heat.
Prior to the start of the 1980s, major track and field events did not include any women’s events longer than 1500 meters. This practice started to change early in the new decade, and in March 1982, Audain competed in her first 5000 meters race, breaking the world record. At the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane she won gold in the women’s 3000 meters in 8:45.53, a New Zealand national record. At the 1984 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles, Audain competed in the inaugural women’s Olympic marathon but failed to finish. At the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Scotland, she won a silver medal in the women’s 10,000 meters. In 1988, at her final Summer Olympic Games in Seoul, she placed 11th in the inaugural women’s 10,000 meters race, finishing in 32:10.47. During the 1980s, Audain won more American road races (75) than any other male or female runner, including 7 wins at the Lilac Bloomsday Run in the 80s and early 90s.
In 1993 Audain founded the Idaho Women’s Fitness Celebration 5K, which is now the largest 5K race for women in the United States. Audain became an American citizen in 1995. That same year, she received the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire Award for her services to athletics. In 2000 she launched the Anne Audain Scholarship Awards. This scholarship program funds college scholarships for young women who seek to balance academics, sports, leadership and community endeavors in their daily life. She is a member of the Running USA Board of Directors and its Hall of Champions.
KEN MARTIN
Martin was born on September 10, 1958. He is an American long-distance runner who was a two-time United States National Champion in the Marathon. At the 1984 California International Marathon, Martin set a course record with a time of 2:11:24. At the 1985 Pittsburgh Marathon, he competed alongside his wife at the time, Lisa Martin. Based on their performance at the 1985 Pittsburgh Marathon, he and Lisa became the fastest married couple ever in a marathon, winning their respective divisions. Martin placed second in the 1989 New York City Marathon, finishing in 2:09:38 to Tanzania’s Juma Ikangaa’s 2:08:01. As of 2007, his finish time at the 1989 New York City Marathon was the fourth-fastest marathon ever run by an American-born athlete.
Martin is now a 55-year-old father of three living in Indiana. In 2010, he had a bout of Hodgkin lymphoma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. It was, for the time, successfully treated with chemotherapy. Following the chemotherapy, Martin returned to his training, with the goal of setting a new male 50-54 age group record in the mile. The non-Hodgkin lymphoma, however, took on a more aggressive form. Though he was “mad as hell at first” about the disruption in his running plans, he continued exercising, even during treatments for his lymphoma. During two six-day rounds of chemotherapy, Martin brought a stationary bicycle into his hotel room and rode it 30-minutes a day. “Cancer and the fatigue will wear you out, affect your mood and your ability to do stuff,” he said. Martin is interested in exploring whether exercise can improve the quality of life for patients like himself. There was little available research on this topic. Martin’s response was to create the Workout Cancer Research Fund to finance research on exercise’s impact on tumors and cancer treatments. Learn more about the WorkOut Cancer Research Fund.
OUTSTANDING CLUB PRESIDENT OF THE YEAR
BONNIE SEXTON
Kalamazoo Area Runners – Kalamazoo, MI
BROWNING ROSS SPIRIT OF THE RRCA
LOUISE TINSLEY
Huntsville Track Club – Huntsville, AL
OUTSTANDING STATE REPRESENTATIVE
SUE BROWN-NICKERSON
Indiana State Rep
OUTSTANDING VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR
BILL WERLING
Peachtree City Running Club – Fayetteville, GA
OUTSTANDING YOUTH PROGRAM DIRECTOR
GRACE OWEN
Lakeland Runners Club Kids Running Program – Lakeland Runners – Lakeland, FL
ROAD RUNNERS OF THE YEAR
SHADRACK BIWOTT, Open Male
MATTIE SUVER, Open Female
KEVIN CASTILLE, Male Master
(presented by Running Times magazine)
LIBBY JAMES, Female Master
(presented by Running Times magazine)
JEFF GLASBRENNER, Challenged Athlete
Little Rock Road Runners Club – Little Rock, AR
EXCELLENCE IN COMMUNICATION AWARDS
MILES AND MINUTES – Print Newsletter
Edward Kelleher, Editor
Richmond Road Runners Club – Richmond, VA
OMAHA RUNNING CLUB NEWSLETTER – E-Newsletter
John Fey, Editor
Omaha Running Club – Omaha, NE
MARTY WILLIAMS – Club Writer of the Year
Second Wind Running Club – Champaign-Urbana, IL
JOHN HUNT – Journalism Excellence
Chattanooga Track Club – Chattanooga, TN
OUTSTANDING WEBSITE
BALTIMORE ROAD RUNNERS CLUB
www.BRRC.com
OUTSTANDING BEGINNING RUNNING PROGRAM
SCOTT PEACOCK
San Antonio RoadRunners – San Antonio, TX
RRCA ROAD RACE OF THE YEAR
THE GREAT CRANBERRY ISLAND 50K ULTRA MARATHON
Co-race directors, Gary Allen & Mary Ropp – Crow Athletics – Bar Harbor, ME
